Wall panel structures



July 11, 1961 M. A. BUELL ETAL 2,991,855

WALL PANEL STRUCTURES Filed July 11, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENT ORS MILTON A. BUE LL APTHU H. ACK BY: & ATTORNEYS July 11, 1961 M. A. BUELL :rm.

WALL PANEL STRUCTURES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 11, 1960 INVENTORS MILTON A. BUELL ARTHU H. ACK

By: a & 06 w ATTORNEYS FIG. 3

United States Patent ice WALL PANEL STRUCTURES Milton A. Buell, Toronto, Ontario, and Arthur H. Mack, Downsview, Ontario, Canada, assignor's to Rosco Metal 8: Roofing Products Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, a company Filed July 11, 1960, Ser. No. 42,158 6 Claims. (Cl. 18934) vapour barrier, a series of outer panels erected to overlie the inner panels, and insulation in spaces between the panels.

It is an object of this invention to provide a wall panel structure consisting of a series of inner panels and a com-i plementary series of outer panels and arranged in such.

a manner that the structure is simple to erect and includes simple and eflicient means for holding the panels of the outer series in fixed relation to the panels of the inner series.

According. to the invention a wall panel structure comprises a plurality of inner panels arranged in seriate edge to-edge relation; sealing means between'adjacent edges of the panels; a plurality of outer panels supported in" opposed relation to the inner panels, the outer panels being arranged in seriate relation with juxtaposed edges and having inner surfaces facing the inner panels and outer surfaces remote from the inner panels; at least two sub-girts secured transversely to the inner surface of each outer panel; locating means between adjacent ends of corresponding sub-girts on adjacent panels; lips projecting from the outer surface of each outer panel at the juxta-" posed edgesthereof; clip members'secured at their one ends to the inner panels in register with the juxtaposed edges of adjacent outer panels and having portions whichpass between the lips at said juxtaposed edges, the other end of eachclip member being bifurcated to provide a the girts 10 by arc welding. It will be seen that a series of,

' of panels, this overlap is indicated at 16a.

Patented July 11, 1961 FIGURE 2, and the interior of each female lip 13 is filled with caulking compound 14 in which the male lip 12 is embedded. The upper and lower edges of the inner panel 11 are secured to the girts 10 by sheet metal screws, some of which are indicated at 15. Instead of using screws 15, the inner panels 11 may be secured to inner panels 11 extends between each adjacent pair of girts 10 and that the series may be multiplied vertically to attain the desired height of wall structure, portions of three such series being shown in FIGURE 1.

Secured to the inner panels is a plurality of outer panels 16 which are also arranged in seriate relation with juxtaposed edges. It' will also be seen that the lower end of each outer panel 16 overlaps the upper end of another router panel 16 which is in the next lower series The outer panels have inner surfaces facing the inner panels 11 and outer faces remote from the inner panels. The outer panels are of corrugated cross-section and have secured to their inner surfaces, at the crests 1-7 of the corruga- 3 tions, upper and lower sub-girts 18 of substantially W- shaped cross-section. shape section 19 and outer U-shaped sections 20 which provide outer flanges 21; the central section 19 is joined to the outer sections 20 by webs 22 which are secured to the crests 17 by spot welding.

jecting portions 23 to oil-set them from the main portion Referring now to FIGURE 3, one end of each subgirt is provided with a pair of spaced projections 23 of generally Z-shaped cross-section which forms locating sub-girt and are formed by cutting away, at one end of each sub-gir-t, the central section 19, parts of the webs' 22 and the outer flanges 21 and then swaging the pro- I of the sub-girt so that they may overlap the adjacent pair of legs which are retroverted to embrace the lips at panel structure according; to the invention,

- FIGUREZ is a horizontal section, on a larger scale,"

on line III- H of FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 3 is a detail perspective view of the end construction of a sub-girt.

Referring now to they drawings, a building s tructure (not shown) includes a plurality of vertically spaced, horizontally extending girts indicated at 10. Secured between-each adjacent pair of girts .is a plurality of inner panels 1 -1 arr'anged,in seriate, edge-to-edge,- relation. Each panel 11 is for-n1ed atone .v,ertical edge;with amaIe .lip 12 and at the other vertical edge with a female lip 13, both lips extending towards the outer panels hereafter described. The male lip 12 of each panel engages the female lip 13 of an adjacent panel, as is shown best in end of an adjacent sub-girt, e.g. that indicated at 24 in FIGURE 3, whereby the main portions of the sub-girts are in line and one sub-girt is located relatively to an adjacent sub-girt by the engagement of the projections 23 of the one sub-girt with the sections 20 and webs 22 of the adjacent sub-gilt.

--.Secure'.dfto the inner panels 11 are a series of clip members indicated generally at 25. One end 26 of each clip member is secured by a sheet metal screw 27 to theouter surface of a female lip 13 of an inner panel and passes through the male lip 12 embraced by the female lip as shown in FIGURE 12. The end 26 is also provided with a flange 28 which is secured to the inner panel 11 by a further sheet metal screw .29. Each clip member has a, further portion, indicated at 30, which passes between the juxtaposed edges of adjacent outer panels 16 and the other end of each clip member is bifurcated as indicated at 31 to provide two legs 32 and 33. The clip members 25 are covered with insulating material and flow between the inner and outer panels.

Projecting from the outer surface of each outer panel at the juxtaposed edges thereof are lips indicated at 35.

When the structure is assembled, the lips 35 of adjacent retroverted in opposite directions to embrace the lips 35; "of -an adjacent pairof panels -16 as shown in-the lower portion of FIGURE 1 and in FIGURE 2". l'lThestructure panels are juxtaposed, one to the other, and the portions 30 of the clip members pass between these juxtaposed edges and the legs 32 and 33 of each clip member are is completed by elongated members of U-section, indicated at 36, which embrace the lips 35 and the retroverted legs 32, 33.

The assembly, in the field, of the wall panel structure Each sub-girt has a central U'-' according to the invention is as follows. Assuming that the girts 10 form part of a building structure and are already in position, the first step is to erect the series of inner panels 11. When the panels are made in the factory the caulking compound 14 is inserted into the female lips 13 so that it is possible to assemble a series of inner panels 11 between adjacent sub-girts by inserting the mail lip 12 of each panel into the female lip 13 of an adjacent panel and then securing the panels to the girts 10 by the sheet metal screws 15 as shown or by welding as mentioned above. Once a series of inner panels 11 has been assembled, the clip members 25 are then attached to the inner panels by means of the sheet metal screws 27 and 29. At this stage of the assembly the legs 32 and 33 of each clip member are parallel to one another as shown in the upper right-hand portion of FIGURE 1. The clip members having been placed in the requisite positions, the outer panels are then assembled starting at the right-hand side of the structure. A first outer panel 16 is oflered up to the inner panels so that the portions 30 of the clip members 25 pass between the projections 23 at the end of the sub-girts of the outer panel. The legs 32 and 33 are then bent over to grip the lips 35 at the edges of the panels. It will be seen that the co-action of the portion 30 of each clip member 25 with the projections 23 holds each outer panel relative to the inner panels against movement in directions parallel to the vertical edges of the panels. The next adjacent outer panel to the left is then assembled by lapping the projections 23 of the sub-girts of the left-hand panel over the ends of the sub-girts of the outer panel already erected. The projections 23 thus locate the sub-girts relatively to one another as described above. The left-hand panel is then secured in position by bending the legs 32, 33 of the appropriate clip members 25 over the lips 35 at the edges of the panel. When a vertical series of panels has been completed then the U-section members 36 are placed over the lips 35 and the retroverted legs 32, 33 and may, if desired, be crimped in position to provide a permanent structure. natively, speed clips may be applied to the lips 35, the speed clips being U-shaped clips having teeth on their inner surfaces and over these speed-clips may be placed the elongated sealing members 36.

Insulating material may be placed between the inner and outer panels although this has not been shown in the drawings. The insulating material would, in practree, be placed between the female lips 13 of adjacent inner panels and the inner surfaces of the sub-girts 18.

It will be seen that the invention provides a wall panel structure of simple construction which is easy to assemble and wherein the outer panels are held in positron by means of clip members which hold the panels both against movemtnt both parallel to and perpendicular to their juxtaposed edges. Movement parallel to their juxtaposed edges is prevented by interengagement of the portions 30 of the clip members between the projections 23 of the sub-girts and movement perpendicular to the edges is prevented by the retroversion of the legs 32, 33 over the lips 35 at the edges of the outer panels.

An advantageous feature of the construction described is that any outer panel 16 may be removed and replaced without disturbing adjacent panels 16. Because in industrial installations the panels 16 are very liable to damage, this feature is very desirable and is not found in constructions at present in use.

It will be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is a preferred example and various modifications can be carried out without departmg from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. A wall panel structure comprising a plurality of cured transversely to the inner surface of each outer panel; locating means between adjacent ends of corresponding sub-girts on adjacent panels; lips projecting from the outer surface of each outer panel at the juxtaposed edges thereof; clip members secured at their one ends to the inner panels in register with the juxtaposed edges of adjacent outer panels and having portions which pass between the lips at said juxtaposed edges, the other end of each clip member being bifurcated to provide a pair of legs which are retroverted to embrace the lips at said juxtaposed edges of two adjacent outer panels to secure said panels to the inner panels; and a plurality of elongated U-section members each embracing a pair of said lips and the legs retroverted around said pair of lips.

2. A wall panel structure according to claim 1, wherein the sealing means between adjacent edges of the inner panels comprises interfitting male and female lips, each inner panel having a male lip at one edge and a female lip at the other edge, both lips projecting towards the outer panels, the female lip of each panel embracing the male lip of an adjacent panel, and wherein the clips are secured at their one ends to the outer surfaces of the female lips.

3. A wall panel structure according to claim 2, wherein the outer panels are of corrugated cross-section and the sub-girts are secured to the crests of the corruga- Alter- 40 tions on the inner surfaces of the outer panels.

4. A wall panel structure according to claim 2, including locating means on the sub-girts which coact with the portions of the clips passing between the juxtaposed edges of the outer panels to locate the outer panels relatively to the inner panels against movement in directions parallel to said juxtaposed edges.

5. A wall panel structure according to claim 2, wherein each sub-girt is provided at one end with a pair of spaced projections which co-operate with an adjacent sub-girt to locate the sub-girts relatively to one another, the portions of the clips passing between the juxtaposed edges of the outer panels also passing between the projections of a pair of projections to locate the outer panels relative to the inner panels against movement in directions parallel to the juxtaposed edges of the panels.

6. A wall panel structure according to claim 2, wherein each sub-gilt has a main portion and is provided at one end with a pair of spaced projections of generally Z- shaped cross-section olf-set from the main portion and overlapping an adjacent sub-girt to locate the adjacent sub-girts relatively to one another, and wherein the portions of the clip members which pass between the juxtaposed edges of the outer panels also pass between the projections of each pair of projections on the sub-girts to locate the outer panels relative to the inner panels against movement in directions parallel to their juxtaposed edges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

